|
|
Who owns the information you create on the social sites you are a part of? That is the question being asked by many right now in the social media space, and the answer for the most part is a resounding "It belongs to us!". This is apparent by looking at the growth of such groups as Open Social and DataPortability. And now, there are some practical solutions starting to appear that address at least a part of the problem. Namely, how do we gather our content and take it somewhere else? This is what is currently being called lifestreaming, and it is something you should be aware of.
Lifestreaming is about content aggregation. YOUR content. No matter where you create it. And then sharing that content where you want to share it. Sounds pretty nice doesn't it? Well, there are quite a few services out there now providing the tools to accomplish this. Plaxo Pulse, FriendFeed, socialthing!, and now Facebook are a few of the top names in the space. As John McCrea of Plaxo says, this is a natural evolution of the Social Web with the user at the center.
The recent announcement that Facebook has opened up the mini-feed to allow importing of other services is potentially huge. While others in the space still need to get users to sign up for a new service, Facebook has already got the users. This could mean trouble for the others like FriendFeed, but so far Facebook doesn't have a very comprehensive list of services they'll import. FriendFeed actually has a Facebook application that can accomplish much the same thing, but is more complicated and involves signing up for an account.
In my book, FriendFeed is still a step ahead by being much more open and now having an API that allows developers to extend the service (there is already Alert Thingy, an AIR based desktop app for following your FriendFeed stream). Facebook currently allows access to some content such as status updates, but still doesn't allow easy access to feeds like the users News feed.
This should be an interesting space to follow in the emerging data portability solutions of the social web. For now, you can follow FG SQUARED's involvement by watching our FriendFeed at http://www.friendfeed.com/fgsquared.
Now that I am serious about meeting up with the rest of the world, my friend Cynthia Baker has asked me to draft a real professional biography that would be useful for securing presentation slots at target rich business conferences. Upon drafting the biography, I immediately reviewed at http://www.tagcrowd.com/ and here is the result.
It's amazing how well tag clouds center in on your thinking process! Thank you www.tagcrowd.com.
Here is my current biography to be recorded in Internet history forever. Please trust this only represents my life until now. But afterall now is gone.
Kindest Regards.
Steve Golab began his career as a pioneer of interactive communications while still an undergraduate in mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Golab piloted the university's College of Engineering Multimedia Lab, developing interactive educational materials while demonstrating the powerful impact of multimedia and the Internet on learning complex technical subject matter.
In 1994, during the early adoption of HTML 1.0, Golab co-founded FG SQUARED (www.fg2.com). Launched as a technology consulting business, the Austin-based firm soon evolved into a multimedia design agency focused on digital video, 3D animation, motion graphics, information management, and systems.
Golab's engineering background brought the firm its initial success as a high-tech consultancy. His talent for understanding what really happens inside technology and visually communicating complex subject matter is core business at FG SQUARED.
From business visionary to organizational thinker and from strategy leader to relationship builder, Steve's role in the agency he helped create is wide-ranging. A typical day finds Steve moving from addressing high-level client needs to consulting with team members in planning and execution of world-class interactive strategies.
Steve focuses on longevity, leadership, and the building of profitable relationships. However, it is Golab's strong entrepreneurial spirit, diverse business management skills and his passion for achieving total client satisfaction that have enabled FG SQUARED to consistently remain an industry leader. Today, FG SQUARED has evolved into a full-service, interactive agency that applies interactive technologies and expertise in marketing to help clients achieve a faster track to profitability.
Since 2003, FG SQUARED has achieved upwards of 35 percent compounded average annual growth. The agency's core capabilities span the spectrum from strategic planning and digital branding to interactive media production and social media solutions for Fortune 500 clients such as Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD), Hitachi Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Premier Global Services (NYSE:PGI), Canon (NYSE: CAJ), and Texas Association of Community Health Centers.
Building long-term relationships with clients in diverse fields including energy, technology, healthcare, entertainment, and mobile communications, FG SQUARED has earned more than 100 interactive media awards including the New York Festivals, Business Week MC Icon, WorldFest International Film, and Telly Awards. FG SQUARED is also a past recipient of the New Media 500, honoring it as one of the world's most influential interactive agencies.
Late Friday morning, the South by Southwest Festival officially kicked off here in Austin. It’s that crazy time of year when aspiring rock stars, film makers, internet strategists, and other hipsters of every stripe converge into the downtown Austin entertainment district. Being the brainiac that I am, this year I decided to arrive twenty minutes early, so I was one of the first in line. Moments after I arrived, the line was snaking around the corner of the wide convention hall. Wow, was I relieved to be near the front, so I could quickly get back to my office across the street.
For those of you attending the festival, check out http://sched.org/sxsw2008/. It’s a slick and interactive event marketing tool that allows attendees to quickly make their schedule and share it with others.
For instance, here is my schedule: http://sched.org/sxsw2008/steve_golab. If you want to meet me at the event, this will give you an idea where you'll be likely to find me. I doubt I’ll actually stick to the schedule, though, and also I may be changing it around as the event goes on.
If you are not heading to the festival this year, I still encourage you to check out http://sched.org/sxsw2008/ and http://sched.org/sxsw2008/steve_golab. This web-based scheduling tool is elegant and also brings high impact user experience of sorts. Try to use it, you'll see what I mean. From an event marketer’s perspective, the tool allows exhibitors, producers, and sponsors to measure participant interest in real-time and better forecast where the crowds will be. If I had more time, I could probably rattle off eighty other benefits possible with the right social media marketing strategy in place. The tool itself is an attraction for the event and I bet it wins honors this year for the Interactive Awards. Rock on!
This evening I stumbled upon some research findings that each of you who are parents will surely relate to. Namely 91% of mothers prefer to purchase brands that other moms have recommended.
Wow, that is a powerful idea! As marketers, we spend so much on traditional media and new media, and in the end, the buyer's purchasing decision is most heavily influenced by referrals that occur on a personal level rather than originating from your tightly controlled marketing message. I am speaking about the thickest root of any truly successful business, namely word of mouth from a current or former Client and Customer.
With that in mind, I'd like to introduce a video you may find interesting. Dave Evans was recently interviewed as part of a South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) Festival promotion. Dave is our own FG SQUARED Social Media Practice Director and a very close friend of mine. I wanted to share this interview with you because I find it very timely and relevant to innovative business folk. Perhaps the biggest question I continue to face is "How should I measure the ROI impact of interactive social media?" Dave is a forerunner in this kind of thinking so I thought you should hear more about what he has to say:
http://blip.tv/file/701835/
After watching the full 20 minutes of Dave's interview, I'd love to know what you are thinking. Even if all you have to share is a chuckle about the Red Bull he is chugging throughout the interview.
You don't need an MBA to know the bottom line in business is about profit and performance.
That's why "Be The Bottom Line" currently serves as my office-hours mantra.
Be The Bottom Line.
In a metaphysical sense, being the bottom line requires training that unites the body and mind - not to mention a fusion of eastern and western ideologies.
Be The Bottom Line.
Four little words that say so much about FG SQUARED. This yin-and-yang microthought neatly summarizes the holistic viewpoint we bring to our clients -- visionary people in organizations that are market leading -- willing to examine and adopt new interactive tools to create a faster track to profitability.
If you're a business leader -- someone responsible for making sure your company competes at the highest levels -- I'm sure you are constantly considering new ways to increase sales, reduce cost or improve productivity. Perhaps for you, the role of Corporate Marketing is already shifting to a profit center rather than a pure cost center.
Innovative social media technologies like social networks, podcasting, mobile messaging (SMS), and collaborative tools can be applied to make new connections at a fraction of the cost of traditional creative media. And when executed intelligently with passion, it is possible to dramatically increase overall marketing communications effectiveness.
Ultimately, though, it's through integrated thinking that you can fully harness the power of interactive marketing. And that's when the FG SQUARED mantra begins.
I'll delve deeper into context in my upcoming articles. In the meantime, welcome to The SQUARED Root!
|
|
